Archive for July, 2014

I happened upon Sleaford Mods via Facebook, where someone had posted a link to a lackadaisical video of these two English curmudgeons sitting on a couch, rapping a song called “Fizzy” and aural blast equivalent of someone spitting a mouthful of chewed up cornflakes in your face. The intensity of Jason Williamson is profound, like lighter fluid combined with kerosene. Wiilliamson’s spasmodic movements a sharp contrast to Adrew Fearn who sits nonchalantly on the thread-bare couch, oblivious to the cinder burning vocals of his band-mate, at one point Fearn starts playing with his phone. Echoes of the Replacements “Bastards of Young” video hang over the setting.

Musically, Sleaford Mods are from the same branch as the Streets, perhaps the first well known solo English white rap act that achieved wide spread acclaim, but the beats are basic, more akin to Suicide but the vitriol and lyrics are much closer to the brutal frustration of Billy Childish, Crass, English punk. and the Dutch anarchists The Ex. Lyrically, Williamson pulls no punches, he is brutal with his pointed insults speak to the desperation of the unemployed and the growing lower class. Songs such as “Jolly Fucker” and “A Little Ditty” (off the new, and excellent “Divide and Exit”) combine the spitefulness of class warfare and aggression of Crass with The Headcoats.

The frustration of crap jobs and crap wages, is a focal point of Sleaford Mods and Williamson has no problem spewing his anger at the fallacy of hero-worship (“Who Killed Bambi”, sample lyric, “Steve Jones/eighties/didn’t work out/but at least you did a tour with Axel Rose/ ), shit work and shittier bosses (“Wage Don’t Fit”, sample lyric “when I said I didn’t like it/that’s because I really don’t”) and skewers pretentious indie-rockers (“Fizzy”, “fuck your rocker shit/fuck your progressive side sleeper towners/oompa-loopma blow me down with me a feather). This clearly one of the best bands going right now. The band has new record out, a single on Matador Europe and a soon-to-be released German LP of singles, but you can also purchase all of their music via their bandcamp and home pages where Mr. Williamson will send you the record himself.